RationalFX Review

Name: RationalFX
Brand: RationalFX

By Gavan Smythe

Overall Score

RationalFX provides international money transfer services for individuals and businesses from a number of countries. While you might need to pay a transfer fee, you also need to account for the RationalFX exchange rate margin. This RationalFX review outlines all the important features for you.

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About the Author

Gavan Smythe

Gavan started iCompareFX in 2014 after discovering the easiest way to wire money internationally was through a specialist provider and …

Personal and business international money transfers

Currency hedging tools

Regular transfers for personal customers

Mass payments for business customers

Dedicated account managers

Payment options

Bank account transfers

Credit cards

Debit cards

Payout options

Bank accounts

Transfer options

Online

Over the phone

Regular transfers

Available

Send money from

AED, AUD, BHD, CAD, CHF, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HRK, HUF, ILS, JPY, KWD, MUR, MXN, NOK, NZD, PLN, QAR, SEK, SGD, THB, ZAR

Send money to

AED, AMD, AUD, BHD, BRL, BDT, CAD, CHF, CZK, CNY, DKK, EUR, FJD, GBP, GHS, HKD, HRK, HUF, IDR, ILS, INR, JMD, JOD, JPY, KES, KWD, LKR, MAD, MKD, MUR, MYR, MXN, NGN, NOK, NPR, NZD, PHP, PKR, PLN, QAR, RON, RUB, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TND, TRY, UGX, USD, VND, XCD, ZAR

Email - privatedesk@rationalfx.com and ukcorporatedealers@rationalfx.com

Phone - International phone numbers location: https://www.rationalfx.com/contact/

Personal Features

RationalFX provides personal money transfer services for residents of most countries. However, it does not support transfers from the US yet.

What RationalFX offers

International money transfers.
Forex risk management tools.
Dedicated account managers.
Regular transfers.
Travel money.

International money transfers - Send money through Spot Contracts. These use existing RationalFX exchange rates.

Forex risk management tools - Use forward contracts, limit orders and stop loss orders to minimize your exposure to forex risk.

Dedicated account managers - Speak with your dedicated account manager regarding any question you might have related to international money transfers, and to initiate transfers over the phone.

Regular transfers - Use the RationalFX Regular Payments Plan to schedule transfers as per your needs.

Travel money - Residents of the UK can get travel money through RationalFX. Home delivery and collection are available. You pay no fees for orders that exceed £750.

What RationalFX doesn’t do

Cash pickup.
Mobile wallet top up.
Travel cards.
Digital wallets.

RationalFX score

The RationalFX score for its personal services can improve if the company starts providing travel cards, digital wallets and more payout methods.

Business Benefits

Businesses from various countries may sign up to use the services of RationalFX.

What RationalFX for business offers

International money transfers.
Currency hedging tools.
Mass payments.
API platform integration.
Dedicated account managers.

International money transfers - Use Spot Contracts when you want to transfer funds quickly, and get RationalFX's existing exchange rates.

Currency hedging tools - Make the most of exchange rate fluctuations by using tools such as forward contracts, limit orders and stop loss orders.

Mass payments - Send payments to multiple beneficiaries easily at the same time.

API platform integration - Easy integration with the RationalFX API gives you the ability to automate all your international payments.

Dedicated account managers - Benefit through expert advice from your dedicated account manager regarding forex risks your business might face.

What RationalFX doesn’t do

FX-optimized travel cards.
Digital wallets.
Multi-currency accounts.
Integration with accounting software such as Xero, MYOB, or QuickBooks.
Solutions for online sellers.

RationalFX score

RationalFX can work on improving its score in this section by offering multi-currency accounts, digital wallets, travel cards, online seller solutions and integration with popular accounting software.

Fees & Exchange Rates

RationalFX exchange rates

The RationalFX exchange rate you get includes the bulk of the fees. This is because RationalFX applies a margin/markup on existing mid-market exchange rates (called the exchange rate margin fee).

Are there additional RationalFX fees?

Yes, you might need to pay additional fees. This depends on where you live, the payment method and how you initiate the transfer.

RationalFX fees for UK customers

Setting up your transfer online - £4

Setting up your transfer over the phone - £0

Setting up transfers using the Regular Payment service - £0

Debit/credit card payment fees from non-EU/EEA countries

Personal customers - 2.3% surcharge

Business customers - 2.5% surcharge

RationalFX score

The exchange rate margin that RationalFX applies and the transfer fee you might need to pay result in its lower than average score in this section.

Ease of Use

What RationalFX does well

Signing up - You can create a new RationalFX account fairly easily.

Phone transfers - Carry out fee-free transfers over the phone.

Payment options - Make payments via bank transfers, debit cards or credit cards. However, card payments are accepted online, and not over the phone.

Transfer speed - RationalFX provides same and next working day transfers for all major currencies. Most other transfers process within 2 working days.

Where RationalFX could improve

Card payment limit - The maximum you can pay via a debit or credit card is £5,000, or its equivalent in another currency.

RationalFX app - There is no RationalFX money transfer app for mobile devices yet.

ID verification - While ID verification usually takes place within 24 hours, it can take up to 3 working days in some cases.

RationalFX score

One way to increase its score in this section is to launch apps for Android and Apple. Increasing card payment limits and speeding up ID verification for all customers would also help.

Support & Countries

What RationalFX does well

Supported countries and currencies

RationalFX supports transfers to more than 170 countries, in the following currencies.

AED - United Arab Emirates Dirham	IDR - Indonesian Rupiah	PHP - Philippine Peso
AMD - Armenian Dram	ILS - Israeli New Shekel	PKR - Pakistani Rupee
AUD - Australian Dollar	INR - Indian Rupee	PLN - Polish Zloty
BHD - Bahraini Dinar	JMD - Jamaican Dollar	QAR - Qatari Riyal
BRL - Brazilian Real	JOD - Jordanian Dinar	RON - Romanian Leu
BDT - Bangladeshi Taka	JPY - Japanese Yen	RUB - Russian Rouble
CAD - Canadian Dollar	KES - Kenyan Shilling	SAR - Saudi Riyal
CHF - Swiss Franc	KWD - Kuwaiti Dinar	SEK - Swedish Krona
CZK - Czech Koruna	LKR - Sri Lankan Rupee	SGD - Singapore Dollar
CNY - Chinese Yuan	MAD - Moroccan Dirham	THB - Thai Baht
DKK - Danish Krone	MKD - Macedonian Denar	TND - Tunisian Dinar
EUR - Euro	MUR - Mauritian Rupee	TRY - Turkish Lira
FJD - Fijian Dollar	MYR - Malaysian Ringgit	UGX - Ugandan Shilling
GBP - Pound Sterling	MXN - Mexican Peso	USD - United States Dollar
GHS - Ghanaian Cedi	NGN - Nigerian Naira	VND - Vietnamese Dong
HKD - Hong Kong Dollar	NOK - Norwegian Krone	XCD - East Caribbean Dollar
HRK - Croatian Kuna	NPR - Nepalese Rupee	ZAR - South African Rand
HUF - Hungarian Forint	NZD - New Zealand Dollar

Multilingual website

You may use the RationalFX website in English, French, German or Spanish.

Customer support

RationalFX provides customer support via email and over the phone. It provides local phone support in the UK, Germany, France and Spain.

Where RationalFX could improve

Transfers from the US - As of now, RationalFX does not support transfers from the United States.

Local settlement accounts - Increasing the number of local settlement accounts it has for receiving payments would help international customers save some money when they transfer funds to RationalFX.

Chat support - RationalFX does not provide support via live chat yet.

RationalFX score

Providing chat support, adding more local settlement accounts, and offering transfers from the US would help RationalFX increase its score in this section.

Trust & Transparency

What RationalFX does well

Licensed - RationalFX is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Safety of funds - RationalFX uses a segregated bank account with Barclays Bank PLC. to hold client money.

Trustpilot - RationalFX gets a score of 9.4 out of 10 on Trustpilot, with over 1,200 reviews. It rates as Excellent.

Where RationalFX could improve

Transparency in RationalFX rates - The only way for customers to find out how much margin RationalFX applies on existing mid-market exchange rates is to carry out their own research.

RationalFX score

RationalFX can improve its score in this section by making its exchange rates transparent. In addition, while it rates as Excellent on Trustpilot, its score does leave some room for improvement.

Summary

You can sign up as a personal or business customer with RationalFX from most countries, with the United States being a significant exception. RationalFX transfers money to bank accounts, but it does not have an agent network for cash transfers. The RationalFX rates you get come with markups/margins.